Nervous about campaigns, Congress may leave early

Members of Congress hadn’t even come back to Washington yet before they started talking about leaving again-and sooner than scheduled.

Already, there’s not much time for Congress to rack up any big accomplishments, with just about four weeks between today’s official re-start date and the Oct. 8 target for adjournment. But with many incumbents increasingly jittery about the November elections and eager to get back home to campaign, there’s a push to shave off as much as a week of that already-crunched work period.

“I would rather be home, no question about it, for political reasons and family reasons,” said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2ndDistrict, as he was driving from the airport in Washington to the Capitol.

But, Courtney added, if it seemed like Congress could really make progress on key bills, such as a small business lending measure now pending in the Senate or a health care proposal he’s hoping to push forward, then there is no reason to rush back to the campaign trail.

“If we’ve got a realistic chance of making progress on these bills, then I think our no. 1 task is to do our job down here and we’ll juggle our political” needs in between legislative responsibilities, he said.

Of course, Courtney is in a safer district than many of his Democratic colleagues, so don’t be surprised if his opinion doesn’t carry the day in D.C.